Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) attract considerable attention as eco-friendly vehicles. A hybrid vehicle generally refers to a vehicle using two power sources. The two power sources may include an engine and an electric motor. Such a hybrid vehicle has excellent mileage and power performance as compared to a vehicle having only an internal combustion engine, and further produces decreases emissions. Therefore, many hybrid vehicles have been developed.
Among hybrid vehicles, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) may be plugged in to charge a battery for driving an electric motor with external, or electrical, power.
In addition, an electric vehicle (EV) is also attracting considerable attention as another eco-friendly vehicle. Since the electric vehicle is generally driven using only an electric motor, a battery for driving the electric motor needs to be charged.
Such an EV or PHEV has a reserved charging function for automatically charging a battery when the vehicle is not used and when late night electricity is available and/or lower in cost, in consideration of departure times for user convenience.
However, even if the reserved charging function is used when a late night electricity rate is applicable in consideration of departure time, the battery may not be sufficiently charged by the departure time according to an external conditions or equipment (e.g., when input voltages of 110 V and 220 V are mixed). Charging logic may be changed according to charger type (e.g., in-cable control box (ICCB) and EV supply equipment (EVSE)), which may be confusing to a driver.